Mixed reactions greet Buhari’s cabinet list

…12 former ministers return as Keyamo, Akpabio, Aregbesola, Saraki, Tallen, others make list

…APC commends list as PDP says list is uninspiring, waste of time

Tunde Opalana, Abuja, Moses Oyediran, Enugu, Kehinde Akinpelu, Ilorin & Ahmad Sorondinki, Kano

Mixed reactions have greeted the list of ministerial nominees as forwarded by President Muhammadu Buhari and announced by the Senate on Tuesday two months after the President’s inauguration on May 29.

The list of nominees contains the names of 12 former ministers and 31 new appointees.

The Senate is expected to commence the screening and confirmation of the 43 ministers-designate today.

This was disclosed on Tuesday by Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, at plenary after reading the President’s communication containing the names of the nominees.

While 12 former ministers were re-nominated by the President, a close analysis of the nominees shows that six states, Kwara, Kaduna, Kano, Anambra, Edo and Lagos have two ministers-designate each as against one nominee from the remaining 31 states, even as the FCT has no nominee on the list.

Making a return to the Federal Executive Council are former ministers Dr. Chris Ngige (Labour), Abubakar Malami (Justice), Lai Mohammed (Information), Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu (Science and Technology), Babatunde Fashola (Power, Works and Housing), Rotimi Amaechi (Transport), Adamu Adamu (Education), Hadi Shirika (Aviation), Osagie Ehinare (Minister of state, Health), Zainab Ahmed (Finance), Mohammed Bello (FCT) and Baba Shehuri (Works).

The new faces on the list are the spokesperson of the Buhari/Osinbajo Presidential Campaign Organisation, Festus Keyamo, former Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, ex-governor of Osun State, Rauf Aregbesola, former Deputy Governor of Plateau State, Paullen Tallen, Sen. Tayo Alasoadura, former Governor of Bayelsa State, Timpre Silva and Senator Gbemisola Saraki.

Others include Sen. Adeleke Mamora from Lagos State, a Deputy National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, Executive Commissioner of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Sunday Dare and Executive Chairman of the Pension Transition Administrative Department (PTAD), Sharon Ikeazor.

However, surprisingly missing on the list are former Internal Affairs Minister, Maj. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazzau, Defence Minister, Col. Murktar Dan Ali, Communications Minister, Adebayo Shittu, Sports Minister, Solomon Dalung and Health Minister, Prof. Isaac Adewole.

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan read the names of the 43 ministerial nominees on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday.

Sen. Ahmad Lawan confirmed that the screening of the nominees will commence today as the exercise takes precedence over every other parliamentary businesses until the screening and confirmation of the ministers-designate is concluded.

The full list of the nominees at a glance: Ikechukwu Oga (Abia), Mohammed Musa Bello (Adamawa), Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Chris Ngige (Anambra), Sharon Ikeazu (Anambra), Adamu Adamu (Bauchi), Maryam Katagum (Bauchi), Timipre Sylva (Bayelsa), George Akume (Benue), Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno), Goddy Agba (Cross Rivers), Festus Keyamo (Delta) and Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi).

Others are Osagie Enakhire (Edo), Clement Agba (Edo), Adeniyi Adebayo (Ekiti), Geofrey Onyeama (Enugu), Ali Issa Pantami (Gombe), Emeka Nwajiuba (Imo), Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa), Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna), Mohammed Mahmoud (Kaduna), Sabo Nanunu (Kano), Bashir Salihi Magashi (Kano), Hadi Sirika (Katsina), Abubakar Malami (Kebbi), Rahmatu Ahmadu Tijani (Kogi), Lai Mohammed (Kwara), Gbemisola Saraki (Kwara), Raji Fashola and Olorunnimbe Momora (Lagos),

Also on the list are Muhammed Abdullahi (Nasarawa), Zubeira Dada (Niger) Olamilekan Adegbite (Ogun), Tayo Alasoadura (Ondo), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Sunday Dare (Oyo), Pauline Tallen (Plateau), Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Muhammadu Maigari Dingyadi (Sokoto), Saleh Mohammed (Taraba); Abubakar Aliyu (Yobe) and Sadiya Umar Farouk (Zamfara).

Reacting to the ministerial list, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) described the list forwarded by President Buhari to the Senate on Tuesday as “colourless, stagnant, uninspiring” and do not convey any sense of hope or purposeful governance under the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The party said that to the chagrin and utter disappointment of Nigerians, the list is replete with incompetent individuals who failed in their erstwhile ministerial assignments and left their ministries in shambles.

In its reaction, APC National Publicity Secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, thanked President Buhari over the nomination of Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Ms. Gbemi Saraki, as ministers to represent Kwara State and the North Central geo-political zone in the soon-to-be constituted Federal Executive Council (FEC).

He said the nomination of these two loyal and distinguished indigenes of the state is a clear demonstration of the President’s unambiguous and implicit confidence and love for Kwara.

“We are particularly excited that President Muhammadu Buhari took note of the overwhelming support that he and our great party received in the state during the last general elections, which resulted in our 100 percent victory across all levels

“We reiterate our profound gratitude to the President for this great honour accorded our dear state, and further assure him that the two nominees would prove to be worthy representatives that would add value to the Next Level agenda of his administration.

“On behalf of our members and the good people of the state, we hereby pledge our unflinching loyalty and support to the President to enable him achieve his dream of making Nigeria a secure, peaceful and prosperous country that would rub shoulders among the league of respected nations”, he said

PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, who stated the party’s position in a statement, said such a list can only come from a “leadership that does not have the mandate of the people,” adding that the list is a complete waste of time and cannot fulfill the expectations of Nigerians.

The party further posited that “the list has further shown President Buhari and APC’s insensitivity and disdain for Nigerians and it does not in any way reflect their hopes and eagerness for a better Nigeria.

“Furthermore, in recycling failed yesterday’s men for today’s assignment, Buhari and the APC have left no one in doubt that they have no vision to move our nation out of the economic and security predicaments into which they have plunged us in the last four years.

“A committed and responsive leadership would have widely consulted with Nigerians before compiling a ministerial list, given the current situation in the country.

“If indeed, Buhari and the APC mean well for Nigerians and are interested in revamping our critical sectors, they would not have ended up with a list of those who will help conceal the huge corruption in the Buhari administration in the last four years, as well as those who will assist in channelling funds to individuals and groups used by the APC to rig the 2019 presidential election.

“Strangely, the list has no space for the youth demography, those to whom the future is said to belong.”

The PDP held that with this development, it is clear that the only way the nation can come out of her present economic and security quandary lies in the retrieval of Atiku Abubakar’s stolen presidential mandate at the tribunal.

Also, the Enugu State chapter of the APC has expressed displeasure over the reappointment of former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama.

The party described Onyeama’s reappointment as a “terrible mistake,” saying the former minister ought not to have any business in the next level second term agenda of the APC led federal executive council.

Reacting to Tuesday’s re-appointment of Onyeama, the Enugu State APC Chairman, Dr. Ben Nwoye, said the development was not for the interest of Enugu State and Nigeria in general.

He posited that the former minister did more harm than good to the APC in the state during his first outing as a minister, stressing that he never believed in party supremacy.

According to Nwoye, rather than joining hands with the leadership of APC in the state to ensure the progress of the party, Onyeama “was busy wasting tax payers money in sponsoring crisis and sowing seeds of discord.”

The chairman insisted that reappointing the former minister into the federal executive council would further destroy the party in Enugu State because” this is a man who has a penchant for thuggery and pulling down of party structures.

“Aside Enugu State, Nigerians in Diaspora never felt the impact of Oyeama’s office for the four years he occupied the foreign affairs ministry,” Nwoye said, adding that Nigerians were been slaughtered almost on daily basis in parts of the world without any comment or reaction from his office.

Meanwhile, Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Tuesday, congratulated the two ministerial nominees from the state, Alhaji Lai Mohamed and Senator Gbemisola Saraki.

“The governor congratulates the distinguished nominees for the honour done to them and our dear state. He considers it a great honour to have two ministerial slots ceded to Kwara state,” said a statement by the governor’s spokesman, Rafiu Ajakaye.

The statement added that the nomination of two ministers-designate from the state “is an affirmation of the special place this state holds in the heart of President Buhari.”

The statement urged the National Assembly, especially senators from Kwara State to offer their full backing for the smooth screening of the nominees in the overall interest of the country.

Similarly, a former Special Adviser to President Buhari on Legislative Matters, Alhaji Abdulrahaman Kawu Sumaila, has described the new list of ministers as a reflection of competence and credibility.

Speaking with journalists in Kano, Kawu debunked allegations of corruption and lopsidedness in the list, insisting that the President has justified his constitutional responsibility.

“Remember, the President has said he will only appoint persons he is familiar with and that he did. Those on the list are capable hands well known to the President, especially those from Kano, Alhaji Sabo Nanono, a traditional title holder and illustrious farmer and Maj. Gen. Magashi.

“And those saying the President’s list is not balanced are not aware of the constitutional right of the President. The constitution says the President should appoint one person each from the states which he did. Again, the President has the prerogative to appoint any other person from anywhere,” Kawu maintained.